INSIDE SLANT

Mike Locksley’s diplomacy can’t be questioned.

The Lobos (0-10, 0-6 Mountain West Conference) have two games left this season to try to get the first career win for Locksley. UNM plays host to staggering Colorado State (3-7, 0-6), a team that has lost seven straight, on Saturday at University Stadium.

UNM’s other opportunity is a Nov. 28 road game at TCU, the No. 4 team in the current Bowl Championship Series standings. Now, which game is the Lobos’ best chance for that elusive win in 2009?

“I think the thing for us,” Locksley said, “whether it’s a rivalry game, whether it’s Colorado State or TCU, it’s our job as coaches to make sure that guys understand that on any given Saturday, anybody can beat anybody. When you’ve got two teams that are struggling like us and Colorado State, I guarantee you Colorado State wants and needs a win, just like we do.”

For their part, the Lobos are as encouraged about their chances as they’ve been before the opener. UNM was three unkind bounces off the uprights from upsetting nationally ranked Brigham Young last week before falling 24-19. It rallied from a 17-7 halftime deficit, getting its offense the ball at the end of the game with a chance to drive for the go-ahead score.

The Lobos also had trailed 17-7 going into intermission at Utah the previous week and were subsequently blown out in the second half in a 45-14 rout.

Both sides of the ball are closing in on complete-game efforts.

The offense moved the ball throughout the game, outgaining the mighty BYU offense 360-355 in total yards Saturday. The defense held the Cougars to minus-5 yards in the fourth quarter and forced a late fumble to give its offense a chance to win the game.

UNM must prepare for a Colorado State team that already pulled out all the stops in its last game two weeks ago at UNLV. The Rams are coming off a bye week and are capable of throwing almost anything at the Lobos.

New Mexico has been more assignment-sound in recent weeks, which has allowed the team to stay in games against UNLV, San Diego State and BYU since its own bye week after six games. That should help UNM prepare for any and all trick plays the Rams have in store for Saturday’s matchup.

Now that the Lobos are executing better, they might feel a bit more confident pulling something out from their own bag of tricks and having success.

NOTES, QUOTES

• Neither team has won a conference game in the past 52 weeks. Colorado State beat Wyoming on Nov. 22, 2008, for its last MWC win. The Lobos beat San Diego State on Oct. 18, 2008, for their last league victory. UNM has lost 10 consecutive conference games.

• Of the 17 seniors playing their last game at University Stadium, only four—QB Donovan Porterie, C Erik Cook, RG Joshua Taufalele and FS Frankie Solomon—have more than one year starting experience. S Ian Clark and WR Roland Bruno, each are returning starters, but both are out for the season due to injury.

• Eight of the 17 seniors are scheduled to graduate in December, including fourth-year senior FS Frankie Solomon. Another already has graduated.

Series History:   Colorado State leads New Mexico 32-24 (last meeting, 2008, 20-6 Colorado State)

Scouting The Offense:   Senior QB Donovan Porterie has gotten the hang of the offense and is playing much better than he was earlier in the season. That is opening things up in both the passing and running attacks. The Rams’ philosophy resembles that of BYU—they’ll try to keep the play in front of them. The Lobos figured out how to attack the Cougars in the second half. Porterie, however, still is thinking too much about the complexities of the offense and has critical lapses of judgment in game-management as a result. In UNM’s last drive against BYU last week, Porterie abandoned his protection and tried to scramble, but he ran into DE Jan Jorgensen for a sack. Then on fourth-and-27, he took off running for a first down instead of heaving the ball downfield and giving his receivers a chance to get a first down. The coaches have to get him to play smarter with the game on the line.

Scouting The Defense:   The Rams will look to pound the ball at the Lobos and max-protect QB Grant Stucker. UNM’s young secondary is doing a better job of staying focused in the play longer but still lacks speed at the safety positions to contain CSU receivers Rashaun Greer and Dion Morton for an extended amount of time. The linebackers are doing a better job against running backs that get past the line of scrimmage. The Lobos in general are doing a better job of anticipating the play and executing their assignments, but that could be fool’s good Saturday when the Rams start getting into trick plays.

Quote To Note:   “Colorado State has had some big wins where they’ve tasted victory. I think the fact that they have had some wins will allow them to lean on some of that experience. I’m sure with their bye week, they’ve had ample time to prepare and they’ve had ample time to get healthy. It’s two teams coming in with nothing to lose. We’re going to have our hands full again this week.”—New Mexico coach Mike Locksley.

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

This Week  ‘S GAME: Colorado State at New Mexico, Nov. 21—The Rams will go down in UNM lore as the last team to face former coach Rocky Long, ending his legacy with a 20-6 defeat last season in Fort Collins, Colo. The teams have played competitive games every year since 2000, and the last lopsided game was in 1997 when the teams contended in the Western Athletic Conference championship game—a 41-13 Rams win.

Keys To The Game:   The Lobos have learned how to take games into the fourth quarter with a chance to win. They now need to learn how to finish. It’s not so much a matter of making the big plays to win a game, but rather it’s a matter or avoiding execution errors on the simple plays—like converting an extra point or field goal or the quarterback throwing the ball away instead of taking a sack that stalls a drive.

Players To Watch:  

TB James Wright—The sophomore needs to have a big game. UNM’s small but speedy true freshmen, Demond Dennis and Kasey Carrier, can give the offense yardage in space, but if it is going to move the ball consistently, the 240-pound Wright has to run effectively between the tackles and move piles.

DT Kendall Briscoe—He has 13.5 tackles for loss on the season. If he can get penetration up the middle, Colorado State won’t be able to afford to help on athletic ends Johnathan Rainey and Jaymar Latchison. CSU’s offensive line is its strength on offense, and if the Briscoe and the Lobos can neutralize that, they stand a good chance of rattling Rams QB Grant Stucker.

K James Aho—He has converted just six of his last 14 field-goal attempts and went 0-for-3 against BYU. He had one blocked and the other two hit the left upright. He also had an extra-point attempt bounce off the right upright. UNM needs him to regain his confidence because Saturday’s game could come down to a late drive.

Roster Report:  

• Redshirt freshman RB A.J. Butler is expected to return from a high ankle sprain that has sidelined him for the past three games. He was the team’s leading receiver until last week, but he’ll be hard-pressed for playing time now that UNM has taken the redshirt off true freshman Kasey Carrier.